You might be better off with selectable lockers. I'm not a huge fan of electric or air lockers, but a lot of people love them. I have a cable actuated ox locker in the front of my scout and I love it! It was pricy at $1200 bucks. The good old detroit lockers will do what you need. I'm going with a full detroit in the front and a true trac in the rear of my travelette. The only time I will be in 4x4 will be at the truck pulls or pulling my trailer through the mud.

 

Auto lockers like a Detroit aren't very snow/ice friendly. If there is any off camber the locker will make it slide sideways towards the downhill side.

It sounds like a limited slip is probably a better choice. Selectable lockers act like a spool and will also end up with that same propensity towards the downhill side of the road.

 

I have a detroit in one of my trucks. Everyone is always saying they are loud and bang on the street. I dont have ANY noise from mine. EVER

For off road conditions is is unbelievable the added traction it gives

 

PO of my sig truck installed a robust e-air compressor, tank and an ARB air locker for the Front D60. Have not used it a huge amount but when extra traction is needed it works awesome.

jrc

 

I have been very pleased with the TruTrac in the front axle, even in the ice storm we got last year. If the factory LS in the rear ever goes out I'll buy a TT to go there as well.

 

Detroit here. No problems. Its been in there for about 12k miles since a buddy and i installed it. I can also say eaton posi has a nice unit my buddy has in his i forgot the exact model. Just need rebuild the little clutch pack things in em like ever 60 k or w/e it is.

 

I've been doing some more reading in my end and it seems like a lot of people are recommending TrueTracs for snowy & icy conditions. This is a major deciding factor for me since we have snow on the ground for 4-5 months every year... So if auto-lockers are borderline hazardous during the winter I have my answer right there.

One thing that I've been trying to find out is how much a Detroit Locker in the rear affects street driving (especially on slippery/icy roads) on a not-so-light truck with a long wheelbase? Based on what I've read, they might be more of an issue on light vehicles with short wheelbase...? Both Detroit Locker and lunchbox style lockers (Spartan, Aussie, Lock-Right, ...) allow outer wheel to spin faster than the ring gear on paper, but how about in the real world? And does Detroit Locker work better in this respect than lunchbox lockers, i.e. has less resistance for allowing faster spin for the outer wheel? Reason why I'm asking about this is that I'm trying to figure out whether or not I'd be okey on snowy roads with a Detroit Locker (or something similar) in the rear diff.

Slightly off-topic, but I guess it's ok since it's my topic... My OBS is a F350 and, if I'm not entirely mistaken, it should have a Dana 60 front axle, right? The curious thing is that when I counted the splines in the hub I came up with 30 and I was expecting 35... Would this be correct for an early '95 F350?

 

Slightly off-topic, but I guess it's ok since it's my topic... My OBS is a F350 and, if I'm not entirely mistaken, it should have a Dana 60 front axle, right? The curious thing is that when I counted the splines in the hub I came up with 30 and I was expecting 35... Would this be correct for an early '95 F350?

It's 35 spline inner and 30 spline outter. You can upgrade the outter or stub shaft to 35 spline and swap out the lockout. I went with 35 spline chrome moly stubs and Dynatrack lockouts when I built the D60 for my 95 F250. Just one less weak spot to worry about when everything is locked up.

 

The detroit lockers may be a bit aggressive as far as like you were saying being in the snow. Ive been driving in the snow with about 300 lbs in back. Its not too bad but sometimes when goin up a steep hill on ice/ snow and i get it too lock up it does scootch over a bit . Try to get a few more real world experiences though before you decide.

And yes your truck should have d60 . I would not be a happy camper if i was you and found a d50 lol. Its solid axel righ? If so its a d60.

 

I've been on the fence for the last little while about what sort of traction aid to throw at my truck, and after all the reading I've done I've decided to go for a Yukon Grizzly locker when cash permits. Same basic concept as the detroit, but with one heck of a warranty.

I don't think excess noise is an issue with a 7.3 in front of me, and I like the piece of mind knowing that both tires are 100% working at getting me where I need to go. No more of this one-tire-fryer nonsense I've been dealing with this winter.

 

My buddy has a eaton in his crown vic and he can get both to lock up nicely as well but cars are a whole other world.

 

Since the TracRite GTL is made by AAM, I doubt that you'll find one to fit our Sterling 10.25s.

Auburn Gear has a limited slip/locker that uses a clutch pack instead of helical gears. It may be available for the 10.25.

 

No problem. Anymore questions , shoot.

 

As in shoot em up haha.

 

Another vote for the TruTrac. Would never even know its there unless I need it, and when I need it, it does exactly what it's supposed to do.

 

After digging through countless threads on multiple forums about different types of lockers and how they behave in different scenarios, I've decided to go with TrueTracs. They seem to be the perfect fit to our use and I'm quite sure that I'll be more than happy with them. I've sent pricing requests to a few european / finnish off-road stores and now I'm waiting to hear from them. Hopefully at least one of them can make me a good deal on two TT lockers... Just to make sure, does part number #915A387 for the front and #915A550 for the rear sound about right to you guys?

 

I was planning on getting TT front and rear but after driving a buds Detroit Soft Lock rear that's what I'll be doing on my rear end but still the TT for the front. The TT can under a few circumstances cause weird handling issues when accelerating hard.


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The only thing I don't like about lockers in the front are if your in and out of slippery conditions it gets annoying having to get out and lock/unlock hubs whenever I get to dry dirt or pavement. When I'm hunting and such, also in Virginia during the winter some roads are covered and some aren't. I just hate getting in and out to lock and unlock the hubs so I'll be able to turn. Comes down to laziness I guess haha

 

This is precisely why I'm going to go with TrueTracs (that are helical gear limited slip differentials) instead of 100% locking auto-lockers. The consensus seems to be that TrueTracs are completely transparent on normal driving conditions and the only time you'll even realize that they're there is when you really need them i.e. in slippery conditions. The one-tire-in-the-air scenario doesn't really concern me since the truck won't see any serious trails or rock crawling. Ever. At least not intentionally...

The only thing I don't like about lockers in the front are if your in and out of slippery conditions it gets annoying having to get out and lock/unlock hubs whenever I get to dry dirt or pavement.

Couldn't you just put it to 2WD after you make it through the slippery part? No power to the front differential -> no locking, right?

 

Auto lockers like the Detroit and Grizzly use springs to hold them in the locked position, power going to the axle doesn't mater. With the hubs locked-in the front axle will still lock up, even in 2wd. And it will be tougher to get the thing to corner as a result. Take a look at how the Detroit and Grizzly work on youtube, there are some good breakdown videos there.

 

Those are pretty cool breakdown videos they have put up on youtube, been through them a few times already. Based on the videos, I was under the impression that while turning the spring would compress allowing the clutch assembly to disengage from the spider assembly for wheel speed differentiation and the locker would engage only after wheel speeds are matched again (i.e. coming out of the turn or inner wheel looses grip and starts to spin at the same speed as the outer wheel)? I guess I've misunderstood their working principals somewhat and I stand corrected.

 

I guess I've misunderstood their working principals somewhat and I stand corrected.

No, you understand it correctly.

 

Does anyone know what oil a truetrac would call for? Is synthetic OK for them? They do not require a friction modifier correct?

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"What kind of oil should I use? Can I use synthetic? Do I need friction additive/modifier?
A quality petroleum/mineral based oil works best in the Truetrac units. We do not recommend synthetic oil. Friction additive/modifier is not required." -
Eaton FAQ

Hope this helps!